Krest | A Star Wars Story

Chapter 11: Here Comes the Cavalry!

"Watch your fire, there's friendlies in that square!" Krest announced through his comm as he ran over to Skitarr who was leading the charge from her position on top of an AT-TE.

"Captain, we need to find a way to break through this encirclement! Cody and his men don't have much time!" Skitarr said deflecting a series of blaster bolts. From what Krest could see Cody was in bad shape. Most of the tanks surrounding the square were down or seriously damaged and the Geonosians quickly began overwhelming them. "Try to contact Commander Cody! See if he has any insight on where we can punch through!"

"Yes ma'am!" Krest nodded and raised his wrist-comm. "Cody, come in! We're outside the square! I repeat we're outside the square! Is there a good spot to punch through?"

Krests comm crackled with static for a few moments before Cody's voice came in.

"Krest! Am I glad to hear your voice. We got surrounded pretty quick. I'd say most of their forces are still concentrated on the western side of the square. Just~~"

Cody's voice cut out and Krest could see a large plume of sand kick up from inside the square.

"Skrag..." Krest cursed as he looked back up at Skitarr who was still waiting for him to relay the info from Cody. "Ma'am, looks like the enemy forces are still concentrated on the west end of the square. I suggest you send the tanks around to divert their focus while I take the men into the square and reinforce Cody's position!"

Skitarr thought for a moment, lowering her guard and narrowly being missed by a plasma orb. She watched in surprise as the orb flew past her before looking back at Krest. "Good Idea Captain! I'll lead the tanks you get these troopers inside!"

"On it!" Krest nodded and turned back to his men, motioning for them to follow. "Come on troopers!"

As Skitarr and the tanks turned to move towards the western side of the square, Krest and his men charged through the gap in the encirclement. Just as predicted the enemy began to focus their attention on the column of tanks as they moved along the side, Leaving Krest and the men with a clear opening. Krest and the rest of the men charged through, ducking and dodging the enemy fire that was still focused on them. As they passed under one the tanks surrounding the square the troopers who were circled around an injured Kenobi saw them and began cheering triumphantly.

"REINFORCEMENTS! REINFORCEMENTS HAVE ARRIVED!" cried one of the troopers from inside the square as Krest and his men arrived. Above them a team of Y-Wings dived down hitting the enemy with volley after volley of ion torpedoes wiping out the majority of enemy armor..

"How many times do we have to bail you guys out?" Krest asked with a hint of sarcasm as he approached Cody..

"That's...not funny." Cody grumbled exhaustedly. "But we appreciate the help, Krest."

"Anytime." Krest nodded.

As Krest and Cody's men ran to mop up the remaining enemy forces, General Skywalker and Mundi arrived with the remainder of their forces. Just like when Krest regrouped with Scraps there were only a handful of troopers in their party along with a couple of tanks.

"Master Kenobi!" said Skywalker's padawan worriedly as she kneeled beside the injured General.

"Well what happened to you?" Skywalker asked sarcastically, getting a tired glare from Kenobi. Even during a campaign Skywalker always found an opportunity to make a joke.

"I might ask you the same question." Kenobi retorted. "Seemingly Linorra was the only one to get here with most of her forces intact."

"That's not to say we didn't get hit with our fair share of resistance. My gunship crashed after taking a direct hit. Not to mention the swarm we encountered in a canyon a ways back." Skitar pointed out as she joined them.

"If it weren't for General Skitarr's order to land the tanks in a safer area away from the LZ, we would've likely lost a lot more than what we did." Krest added.

"Indeed, it looks like her quick thinking managed to give us the upper hand we needed." Kenobi acknowledged, eyeing Skitarr.

"Our combined forces should be more than enough to destroy the shield generator." Kenobi explained as Cody pulled up a holomap of their second objective: a new weapons factory. After the first battle of Geonosis most of the droid factories were shut down by the republic garrison. However the Geonosians had secretly built a new one that was more fortified than the last and quickly overwhelmed the republic garrison, essentially leaving the Geonosians to their devices. Who knew what weapons of war Poggle had managed to cook up in that factory. But no matter their mission was to destroy it so whatever was within those foundries never saw the light of day. "Anakin, you'll need to take a small squad through the shield. As close as you can get to their gun emplacements. From there you'll be able to temporarily jam their scanners so they are unable to target master Skitarr's tanks. Once the tanks knock out the incoming shield, master Mundi can bring in the rest of the troops in with the gunships."

"Consider it done master." Skywalker nodded, standing up.

"We'll get into position and await your signal." Skitarr said turning to leave.

Krest followed close behind, taking a moment to see how she was holding up before the next phase of the assault.

"Madam?" Krest said as he walked alongside her.

"Yes Captain?" Skitarr asked, eyeing him but keeping her eyes ahead as they walked.

"How're you...holding up? You seemed to be pretty shaken when we encountered that swarm in the canyon." Krest queried.

Skitarr took a shaky breath and turned to face him. "I'm...better. It is surprising you asked. As far as I knew, I was still on thin ice with you and the men."

Krest sighed, "you still are, but...you managed to pull yourself together and we came out on top. I won't forgive you, but I can wholeheartedly say I'm hopeful."

Skitarr gave a warm smile and bowed. "Thank you Captain, I'm glad I'm keeping true to my promise."

Krest turned and began walking away. "So far, so good ma'am."

"The shield is down!" Skitarr announced extending her arm forward. "Take out those guns!"

While the tanks moved up to get the guns in range, Krest and the men stuck behind with Skitarr. They watched as the tanks moved into position and opened fire on the enemy guns. As the guns were destroyed Skitarr's holoprojecor chirped.

Krest stood by her as she powered it on and an image of General Windu appeared.

"Master Windu, to what do I owe this communication?" Skitarr answered.

"Once you are done we need you back on your ship and ready to deploy." Windu explained. "We'll explain everything once you're on board."

"Yes, Master Windu. I'll contact you once the men are loaded up." Skitarr nodded before turning off the holoprojector and turning to Krest. "Looks like we're leaving, get the men rounded up and we'll depart for the cruiser when the gunships arrive."